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Bioactive, nutritional composition, heavy metal and pesticide residue of four Chinese jujube cultivars

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Abstract

This study aims to conduct a detailed investigation on four cultivars grown in northwest China, concentrating on the analysis of the bioactive contents, nutrients, heavy metal concentrations, and pesticide residue contents. Those Chinese jujubes consist of 51.99–71.75% edible part, 82.35–89.63% carbohydrates, 4.43–6.01% protein, 0.48–0.63% lipid, 2.80–4.80% polysaccharide, 45.64–88.97 mg/100 g ascorbic acid, 132.16–196.58 mg/100 g phenolics and 101.17–132.04 mg/100 g flavonoids in dry matter. In those four Chinese jujube cultivars, sulfur amino acids are the first limiting amino acids for adults, and aromatic amino acids are for children. The amount of heavy metal and pesticide residue concentrations in those jujubes was way below the limit. All four cultivars were found to have different nutritional values except for the carbohydrates; they had higher rates of carbohydrates and polysaccharide than those previously reported ones from Eastern China; and they are a better source for carbohydrates, vitamin C and functional amino acids.

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Abbreviations

HPZ:

Ziziphus jujube cv. Hupingzao

HZ:

Ziziphus jujube cv. Huizao

XZ:

Ziziphus jujube cv. Xiaozao

JZ:

Ziziphus jujube cv. Junzao

GAE:

Garlic acid equivalent

TAA:

Total amino acids

EAA:

Essential amino acids

FAA:

Functional amino acids

CNS:

Chinese national standard

HCB:

Hexachlorobenzene

HCHs:

Hexachlorocyclohexane isomers

o,p′-DDT:

1,1,1-(trichloro)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(o-chlorophenyl)ethane

p,p′-DDE:

2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethylene

p,p′-DDD:

2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethane

p,p′-DDT:

1,1-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane

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Acknowledgements

We send our greatest appreciations to the Forestry Bureau of Minqin County (Gansu, China; Grant No.201505510610433) for their generous financial support and kind assistance in sampling. We also appreciate the valuable academic and technical support we received from Prof. Wangfu Bi, Xuan wang, Liyue Yue, Mamun-or-Rashid and other lab-mates. We give our special thanks to Pengshan Li and Hongzhang Li for their assistance in sampling and data collection, and to Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajah (from University of Saskatchewan, Canada) for his assistance in manuscript editing. We send our final appreciation to our beloved friend Mr. Edward Oyama (from the US) for final proofreading.

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Correspondence to Feng Zhou or Baoping Ji.

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Rahman, E., Momin, A., Zhao, L. et al. Bioactive, nutritional composition, heavy metal and pesticide residue of four Chinese jujube cultivars. Food Sci Biotechnol 27, 323–331 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-017-0256-2

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